What the farm bill failure means for the GOP-led Congress

Aaron P. Bernstein | Reuters

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, accompanied by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), along with Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), speaks at a news conference following a closed House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 19, 2017.

So Democrats rebelled en masse against This specific farm bill’s fresh work requirements for food stamp recipients. Complaining in which more than 1 million households would likely lose food stamp benefits, all 183 House Democrats on hand voted no.

in which defeated the bill because 30 House Republicans, defying lame-duck Speaker Paul Ryan along with different party leaders, joined Democrats for radically different reasons. Their no votes reflected the the Trump-era centrality of restricting immigration.

As Democrats along with GOP moderates seek separate legislation to protect so-called immigrant “Dreamers,” members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus decided the farm bill could become a bargaining chip to block them. Unable to gain the concessions they wanted, enough caucus members to sink the bill withheld their votes.

Farm bills have failed before. Congress couldn’t pass one on schedule in 2012, leading lawmakers to extend provisions of the 2008 design. The current law, which finally passed in 2014, will be projected to cost $455 billion by its scheduled expiration later This specific year.

With 2018 midterm elections looming, Congress could fall back on a similar stop-gap extension This specific year. nevertheless the Senate isn’t giving up.

As a senior member of the Agriculture Committee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky takes a strong personal interest from the issue. along with because the farm bill won’t be considered under special “reconciliation” rules requiring only a majority vote, Senate passage will require support by at least nine Democrats to surmount an opposition filibuster.

in which assures the Senate farm bill won’t include the sorts of food stamp restrictions in which helped sink the House proposal today. Which means, in turn, in which Congress will have at least one more chance to patch together a bipartisan farm coalition Again.